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Wednesday, November 23, 2016

You talk to yourself more than anyone else in this world. Every single day you have an on going conversation with yourself - and you had better be saying the right things. It's all too common place, for many people, to be extremely hard on themselves in their everyday thoughts. In fact, most people are harder on themselves then they ever would be on someone they love.

But shouldn't you love yourself? If you wouldn't talk to a loved one the way you talk to yourself in your own head - why do it yourself?

Many people suffer from some form of anxiety, depression, or general high stress levels - they're just afraid to speak up about it. We're constantly, every single minute of the day, bombarded my images, media, news, social media, work, travel, family obligations, social events, and more. We're always connected to each other through our various forms of media, we never really get a break - yet a growing number of people (even with all this "connectivity") are feeling more, and more ... alone.

We're almost genetically the same as our primitive ancestors, and other forms of primates, yet we live in a highly advanced and complicated technological world. Our stressors are not the same as our primitive ancestors - yet we still have the same hardware. We're trying to operate in a strange new world using primitive "monkey brains".

This sort of thing leads to various forms of anxiety and depression. Anxiety and depression lead to a lack of motivation, poor thoughts, a lack of activity, and can severely impact your well being and zest for normal life.

This may sound a lot like you, or you may know someone who this describes exactly, and if it does - there is a way to help cope with these feelings ... Mindful Meditation.

It's Just As Important To Take Care Of Mind, As It Is Your Body

Most people know by now how important it is to take care of your body. If you read my blog then I'm sure you're already taking part in some form of physical fitness routine and watching what food you put into your body.

But, what you might not be doing is taking care of your mind - training your mental fitness.

The mind and body go together, they're a team, and they both need to be taken care of equally. In order to train the mind to run well, and in turn allow the body to perform at it's highest level, you must meditate.

I know meditation sounds boring, especially if you an "always on the go" kind of guy/gal, but the busier you are - the more you most likely need to meditate. We need time to alone, time to reconnect with our inner self, time to learn how to be here in the present, and learn how to not be fearful of the future or regretful of the past - mindful meditation helps train you to do just that.

Mindful meditation also helps with negative thoughts, depression, anxiety, stress, mental clarity, sleep patterns, and more. It's like a daily tune up and check in with your body and mind - it's the maintenance.

Feeling depressed? Meditate.

Feeling anxious? Meditate.

Feeling tired? Meditate.

Feeling sad? Meditate.

Stressed the fuck out? Meditate.

How To Start Meditating

It's not difficult to get started, you don't need a fancy place to do it, you just need yourself and a little time each day. Follow these steps to get started ...

1.) Sit in a comfortable chair, upright but not stiff. You can also lay down if sitting isn't comfortable.

2.) Gaze off into the near distance, but don't focus on anything in particular

3.) Breath in through the nose and out through the mouth and allow your belly to expand as you breath

4.) After a few breaths, gently close your eyes while you continue to breath

5.) Slowly, as your breathing, scan your body and take note of any tension in the body, how your feet feel on the floor, how your hands feel in your lap, and where you feel your body is resting most of its weight.

6.) Begin to take note of any sounds happening around you, don't seek them out, allow the sounds to come to you and recognize them - be sure that you're still breathing.

7.) Allow your attention to return to your breath and begin to count your breaths (1 *inhale, 2* exhale ...) all the way to a count of 10 breaths. Then repeat from 1 through 10.

8.) Don't worry if your mind wanders off, it might happen, if it does you'll return your attention to your breathing and continue counting where you left off.

9.) Repeat this for as many minutes as you like.

10.) When you're almost ready to finish up, allow your mind to run free and do whatever it likes for 1 minute. Don't fight it, if it wants to think - let it think.

11.) Open your eyes gently and take note of how you feel, relax for a few seconds or minutes.

I guarantee you'll feel much better after a quick session (5-10 mins) than you did before you started.

Taking It Beyond Mindful Mediation

My ebook "The Ronin Method" teaches you a form of moving mediation through the workout program I designed for the book. It also goes into detail on mindful mediation, and how to combine it with this unique form of moving mediation I like to call "The Ronin Workout".

If you're living a busy life, and need a way to train your body and mind for longevity, sustainability, and over all well being - "The Ronin Method" might be the answer for you.

Tuesday, November 15, 2016

In the coming months and years, trust me, you'll be hearing a lot more about cold exposure and it's benefits on your health. It's already picking up steam on most forms of social media - with people posting photos and videos of them taking ice baths or doing cryotherapy.

Cold exposure as a form of therapy, or being used as a "health tonic", is nothing new - it's been around for centuries. Yet, it's only now that it's becoming mainstream. It can be done in a few different ways, but most people get their cold exposure therapy one of two ways ...

Two Common Forms Of Cold Exposure

1.) Cryotherapy:

Cryotherapy involves the use of standing in a chamber where the air is cooled down, using liquid nitrogen, to around -93 to -115 degrees celsius (-200 to -240f) for around 30 seconds - 1min. This must be performed under the guidance of a technician, and never alone. There is, without a doubt, a price tag attached to this service.

2.) Cold Showers/Ice Baths:

The classic, and FREE, option for cold exposure therapy is to take a cold shower or ice bath. Depending on your experience with cold exposure will depend on the duration of time that you'll be exposed to the cold water, usually ranging anywhere from 30 sec, all the way up to 8 mins.

But What The Hell Is The Benefit Of Being Cold?

I'm sure you're not fully down with the idea of getting cold on purpose. I get it, who the hell wants to be cold - it sucks. But if you understand the benefits of cold exposure therapy, in the right dose, you'll be much more likely to want to add it to your training routine.

1.) Fat Burning Effect

We have two types of fat in our bodies, white fat (the kind of body fat you're all familiar with) and brown fat. When we regularly expose ourselves to the cold, we increase the amount of "brown fat" in our bodies. Brown fat is fat that is rich in mitochondria, giving it a brown appearance. Brown fat burns calories for energy in order to keep us warm. In fact, brown fat creates more than 300x more heat than any other tissue in the body. Cold exposure therapy helps increase the amount of brown fat we have in our bodies, which in turn helps us burn more calories during the day and at rest, and improves your lean body mass - even without exercise!

2.) Increases Blood Flow

When you expose yourself to the cold, your blood vessels constrict and blood is forced towards the organs of the body. When this happens, your body works harder to circulate the blood and forces the arteries to become more efficient and moving blood. When you're no longer exposed to the cold, and your body returns to its normal temperature, it will be more effective at moving blood around the body.

3.) Increased Recovery From Training

Training is a stress on the body, a good stress, and you need to recover from training. Cold exposure therapy helps speed up the process of recovery, after hard bouts of exercise, by reducing inflammation and increasing circulation. However, it's best to not expose yourself to the cold for at least 1 hour after your training.

You need the stress response from your training, in order for your body to change and adapt. Cold exposure therapy, performed right after training, reduces the good stress response from your training and reduces the adaptation to the hard session you put it through. If you wait 1 hour after training before performing cold exposure therapy, you'll allow your body to get the benefit from the "good stress" imposed on it during your training session, and recover faster from the anti-inflammatory effect of cold therapy.

4.) Reduces Depression

In recent studies, cold exposure therapy has been shown to induce and anti-depressive effect. Depression may be linked to inflammation, cold exposure therapy helps reduce inflation - therefor it helps improve the negative effects of depression.

Cold exposure therapy also sends a truck load of electrical impulses to the peripheral nerve endings in the brain, through the nerve endings all over your skin, and produces a natural "high" or "pick-me-up".

How To Implement Cold Exposure Therapy

1.) Take a warm shower, for however long is needed

2.) Finish with a cold shower for 30 seconds

3.) Every week, increase your time in the cold shower by 30 seconds, continue on this way until you're at 5mins

Thursday, November 10, 2016

My upcoming ebook, The Ronin Method, well be available this Saturday, Nov 12th. It's all about essential, sustainable, minimalist fitness for the everyday person. But how does it differ from my other ebooks or other books on the market? What problems does it solve for you? Well, here are 3 huge fitness problems that I feel "The Ronin Method" solves, better than any other book on the market.

1.) Removes the need for a gym, reduces excuses, and allows you to train anywhere at anytime

The most common excuses I hear about not following a fitness plan go something like this ...

" I can't afford a gym membership"
"I was traveling and the hotel gym sucked"
"I'm at home all the time with my kids I can't get to the gym"
"I don't like working out in a gym"
"I'm busy, all the time, and I find it hard to make time to go to the gym"

The minimalist approach taken in "The Ronin Method" eliminates these excuses; and more. When you grab a copy of "The Ronin Method" you'll learn how to use your own bodyweight, and (if you choose) some light portable equipment, in order to get a bad ass workout - anytime, anywhere. You'll never be in need of a gym or weights ever again.

"The Ronin Method" will also teach you how to find your own "outdoor gym" by using normal everyday objects and locations to enrich your training. You'll learn how to implement sticks and stones, park benches, trees, soccer nets, jungle gyms, picnic tables, and more as your very own FREE gym.

You'll also learn how to develop your own "Ronin Bag", your own personal, compact, and light gym in a bag that you can take anywhere. Your "Ronin Bag" will be filled with essential, minimalist, fitness equipment that will allow you to get a world class workout, along with your bodyweight based training.

By learning how to make use of a minimalist approach to fitness, you'll be capable of training in endless locations. This means you'll be able to train in parks, hotels, living rooms, basements, beaches, playgrounds, sports fields, and more. This makes it perfect if you're low on cash, hate working out in a gym setting, or (the big one) short on time.

If you're short on time, the workout found in "The Ronin Method" provides you with a sensible, no nonsense, time efficient workout that can be done in under 20 minutes - right where you're standing!

Oh, and there are exercises and approaches detailed in the ebook on how to make a workout for you - regardless of your fitness level, experience, or age. Anyone can use the workout found in "The Ronin Method".

2.) I'm stressed out all the time, working out is just another stress I can't handle
I get it. When work, social life, relationships, or family stuff is stressing you out - working out might not be the first thing on your list. Hell, it might not even be on your list. But - stress is a bitch, one that can kill.

While training is a physical stress on the body, it can actually help reduce mental stress - when performed in a stress conscious manner.

"The Ronin Method" removes the need for a gym - taking away the stress associated with making the trip to the gym, parking, changing, training, and driving back home; having even less time to do the things you love . The workout and minimalist approach to training that "The Ronin Method" utilizes allows you to train anywhere, in a very short amount of time, and delivers outstanding results. This way you get in a highly efficient, and effective, workout in hardly any time without the need for a gym.

You'll also find a detailed guide on how to meditate, for only a few short minutes at a time, in order to improve your stress levels, mental alertness, productivity, and over all sense of well being. Mediation is a powerful tool that will help you not only feel amazing, but perform at a high level in your daily life.

Oh, and the mediation is not just sitting there and staring off into the distance - "The Ronin Method" is designed with a workout that is actually a form of moving mediation! It will train not only your body, but also your mind; you'll get stronger inside and out through the "Ronin Workout".

3.) The Ronin Method provides you with a way to train forever
Too many training programs are designed for athletes, movie stars, or bodybuilders - but what about the everyday regular person? What about the training programs for people like you, people like me, people like your neighbour, and people like your family?

"The Ronin Method" is based around essential movements, the bare minimum I call "The 5 Elements". They're the movements you need to train, at minimum, in order to remain strong throughout your entire life - not just now in the short term. These "5 Elements" are also arranged in order of difficulty, meaning if you're strong, athletic, and young - there are movements for you. Also, if you need to get stronger, new to working out, and older - there are movements for you too.

"The Ronin Workout" found in the ebook is also low stress, due to it being a form of moving mediation, and it's also easy on your joints. "The Ronin Workout" is designed to be challenging, improve your strength, and be very safe on your joints. If you're young and have healthy joints at the moment - you'll want to keep them that way, and "The Ronin Workout" is the way. If you're aging and you're joints aren't in the best shape - "The Ronin Workout" is one of the best training options for not aggravating them further.

"The Ronin Method" provides a training method and workout that is suitable for anyone - period.

I have worked very hard, and long, on "The Ronin Method". It's a product I'll stand behind, because it's the sum of years of work; that I know produces results. It's a workout method and training approach for real people. I hope you grab a copy this Saturday Nov 12, remove the shackles of needing a gym, train forever, and not just look great - but also BE great. I hope you can become a "Fitness Ronin".

Thursday, September 22, 2016

"When sorting out timber for building a house, that which is straight, free from knots, and of good appearance can be used for front pillars. That which has some knots, but is straight and strong, can be used for the rear pillars. That which is somewhat weak, has no knots, and looks good is variously used for doors sills, lintels, doors, and screens. That which is knotted and crooked, but nevertheless strong, is used thoughtfully in consideration of the strength of the various members of the house. Then the house will last a long time." - Miyamoto Musashi

When it comes to training for improved fitness and health, the vast majority of people think of only their workout. They view fitness as just their resistance training, cardio, or high intensity/met cons. If it doesn't make you sweat, doesn't push your limits, or set new personal bests ... then it's not a workout.

This couldn't be further from the truth.

Those types of training are important, but they're just an aspect of your training as a whole. There are many other aspects to your training that have a great impact on your health and fitness that are generally ignored, or emphasized to a lesser degree, by many trainees.

When we look at training for the everyday person, or even the athlete, we need to look at your training and fitness from a holistic view. Training for improved health and movement in everyday life involves ...

Each one of those listed here are aspects of your fitness training. When we look at all of those aspects, it becomes clear that training is much, much more than just the time spent in the gym. It could be though of that everything you do in your daily life can be seen as training.

The key is figuring out which aspects of training needs to take up the majority of your focus and which ones need to be used to a lesser extent. This order will change multiple times throughout your life, depending on the directing your life takes you.

These aspects of training are just like the timber described by Musashi in the quote above. The carpenter knows when and where to use each piece of timber, he knows the exact purpose for each bit of wood, and he understands when their needed and when they're not.

The same goes for every aspect of your training.

Training implies that your training for something, for most people it means training for the best everyday life. Training means you're improving, not breaking yourself down. When anyone of these aspects of training are put into the wrong order, they can destroy your health. If they're put into the right order, they'll improve your well being.

Friday, September 16, 2016

I think the bench press is stupid and outdated. I don't think it's essential for the average person. In fact, outside of a sport such as power lifting or maybe bodybuilding, I think everyone could get away with ever having to perform the bench press.

The Bench Press Is Dangerous

Come on, do I really have to describe why loading a bar full of heavy ass weights, then laying down under that bar and lowering it down towards your chest/neck is stupid or dangerous? There's a reason why when you bench you need spotters, or bars on either side, to guard you from having your ribs or trachea crushed if you fail out on a rep. From a danger stand point, the bench press is dumb.

The Bench Press Is Unnatural

The bench press is an unnatural movement. Most of the time when we're in a position to push or press something, we're standing. Not laying down on a bench. We push to open doors, move shopping carts, shove heavy objects or even people. Even throwing punches could be considered a "pushing" type movement.

When we push things from a standing position, it challenges our fascial slings, hips, and core musculature in a way that laying on a bench just does not. That is, as long as your back isn't up against a wall while you're performing your standing push exercises.

Just because you can bench press 300+ pounds doesn't mean that you wont feel weak or fall apart kinetically while performing a standing, single arm, cable push. Actually, most people who don't train their pushing from a standing position, and only train forms of bench press, are surprised at how weak they feel during standing push exercises.

Any time that I've taken a client, who only performs bench presses, and worked with them on standing cable or resistance band presses, they fall apart and compensate in order to perform the movement. That's not good from both a mechanical and athletic stand point.

If you want to train your push more effectively I would suggest any of the following exercises

While the push up isn't as effective at replicating natural pushing mechanics as standing cable pushes, it's still leaps and bounds better than the bench press.

The core is worked harder during the push up as the spine isn't being supported by the bench. The core needs to fire during pushing movements in order to protect us and improve the strength behind the movement.

The hands are also not forced into a fixed position during push ups, as they are with the bench press. When you bench press, you're forced to hold onto a straight bar. This puts your hands and shoulders into a fixed position. This position isn't right for everyone and locking someone into that position might lead to injury. Shoulder injuries during bench press are common, even while using exceptional form. The push up allows for a little more freedom in hand placement due to the fact that you're not forced to hold onto a bar. This allows the trainee to find the right position for them, that's safe, and feels comfortable for their unique body type.

Traditional Bench Press Doesn't Have Much Carry Over

People have evolved over millions of years to stand, walk, and run on two feet as a priority. These actions are facilitated by our fascial slings. Our fascial slings work by oscillating to move our bodies forward or backward. When one sling shortens, the opposing sling lengthens, and a whole series of muscles from our upper body, core, and legs activate - working as a team.

If we're looking for greater carry over, from an exercise, to our every day lives and athletics we must use movements that train the slings in ways they were designed to move - from a standing position and oscillating. The bench press doesn't train the slings in this manner.

By laying on a bench, we disconnect the core from needing to fully engage. By pressing with both arms at the same time we're not using the slings in oscillation. By not standing up during the exercise, we're not performing the push from the position we find ourselves in most of the time. The bench press doesn't train your body to perform the way it was designed to perform through evolution.

One example of an exercise that does train the slings effectively, in a manner that resembles natural movement is the standing, single arm, staggered stance, cable press. In both looks, and function, this exercise will help replicate the demands placed on the body during not only standing pushing, but also movements such as ...

- Running

- Walking

- Throwing

- Punching

- Pushing/ shoving

... and more. If you're goal is to move better in life and athletics, while improving your functional pushing mechanics/strength, the bench press might not be your best option.

Should You Bench Press?

I'm not your mother, I can't tell you want to do. If you like bench pressing, go ahead. If you're a power lifter, you're going to need to bench.

But, in my opinion, if you're the average person you don't need to bench press - and you're probably better off if you avoid it. There are better ways to train your push. Ways that are safer, have greater carry over to everyday life/athletics, and respect evolution. Don't be surprised if in the upcoming months, you see more and more coaches/trainers removing the bench press from their programming.

It takes time for things to change and become "the norm", but I do believe the bench press is on it's way to becoming "benched" as an exercise for the everyday person.

Saturday, August 27, 2016

If you're wondering what to do when you're not in the mood to workout, then you should take a look at my latest article for "Whole Life Challenge". In it I discuss my top 5 alternatives to working out on a day when it's just not for you. You can read more by following this link here.

Monday, August 15, 2016

Olympic lifting is popular, and that's an understatement. Everywhere you look at the moment, it seems like everyone from athletes to grandparents are incorporating it into their training. It looks cool, it's got a ton of hype behind it, and coaches everywhere love to discuss the benefits of this training style.

But ... I'm not a big fan of Olympic lifting.

In fact, I would go as far as to say that I don't think it's smart or necessary for the "everyday person" to be training using Olympic lifting.

Now, before you shit down my throat, I did title this piece as an "unpopular opinion". It's my opinion, I understand that it's not one shared by the mainstream fitness community, and I know it's going to make more than a few people a little bit ... butt hurt.

Before I jump into the reasons why I don't really like Olympic lifting as a form of fitness for the general public, know this. I am not saying that you should stop Olympic lifting if you enjoy it. I'm not saying that no one should do Olympic lifting. I'm not saying that it's not impressive or bad ass. What I will do is bring up some of my thoughts on this training style and why I'm not into it, and maybe they'll be some things you haven't thought to consider.

Olympic Lifting is a sport, one that's not designed for everyone.

Olympic lifting, like every single sport, is more suited towards a certain body type. In fact, in many countries Olympic Lifters begin their training when they're children - after they've been inspected by coaches to see if they have the body type suitable for the sport.

Coaches will look for kids with stocky builds - broad torso, short limbs, and not very tall. They must also possess a decent amount of mobility through the shoulders, ankles, knees, hips, and thoracic spine. These attributes are suited towards being successful in Olympic lifting.

Not everyone is built to perform Olympic lifting, and that's ok. It's a sport after all, and one that's technically demanding, highly physical, and dangerous.

Olympic lifting is a high risk training style.

Olympic lifting is a sport. Sports are exciting because they're crazy displays of unusual athleticism. All sports have a certain amount of risk and danger involved, some have more than others - Olympic lifting is no exception to this rule.

If you're an Olympic Lifter, one who competes, I'm sure you're aware of the dangers involved in your sport - and you've come to terms with the fact that you could easily injure yourself while performing your chosen sport. That's ok, it's a the natural risk you take as an athlete looking to be the best in your chosen sport.

However, if you're a regular person (like 95% of the population) who doesn't get paid as a professional athlete - you should be using the safest training methods possible. Your training should be low risk and high reward. This means using exercises that mimic daily movements, are easy to learn, easy to progress or regress, and are not highly technical.

Olympic lifts are highly technical, not suited for everybody type, and require special coaching. It also involves literally throwing weight over your head and dropping yourself underneath that weight while fully squatted and arms extended fully overhead. I hopefully don't have to go into detail about how that could go wrong and how there's a high degree of risk for injury involved there.

But Olympic lifting trains the hinge & athletic position?

Ok, yeah Olympic lifting trains the hinge and the athletic position. But so do tons of other exercises, in much safer, less complex, and more general ways. If you want to train your hinge try any of these exercises ...

- Deadlifts (barbell, kettelbell, dumbbell, bands, pulleys)

- Swings (dumbbell, kettlebell)

- Pull throughs (bands, pulleys)

- Standing Hip Thrusters (bands)

- and more ...

All of those are easier to learn, lower risk than Olympic lifting, and most can even be performed from a single leg stance (unilateral) in order to increase their carry over to sports and athletics. There's no reason you have to perform Olympic lifting to train the hinge or athletic position.

But what about improving explosive power? Sprint speed? Or jump height?

One of the biggest reasons people train Olympic lifts, is that they're said to improve explosive power, top sprint speed, and jump height. Well, that maybe be true to a degree - I still don't think its a necessary (or smart reason) to be Olympic lifting.

Yes, Olympic lifts have been shown in tests to help improve jump height, but so did squatting and dead lifting. In fact, the Olympic lifts only were only showed to be marginally (very small) more effective at improving sprint speed and jump height than squatting and dead lifting. The kind of difference that doesn't matter, unless you're a paid athlete looking for a competitive edge.

When it comes to sprint speed, plenty of exercises have been shown to help improve top sprint speed and they're much safer than Olympic lifting. For example, hip thrusters have been proven more effective than squats at improving top sprint speed by a long shot. The hip thruster also doesn't compress the spine like the squat. It also doesn't involve hucking weight over head and dropping under that loaded bar, like Olympic lifting. Much safer!

If you're a regular person (by that I mean not a paid athlete) who's looking to perform a training program that improves your explosive power, ask yourself why? What do you need to be more explosive for? And if you do need to be more explosive, do you really feel it's necessary to perform Olympic lifts - lifts that are highly technical and high risk - to get similar results that could be achieved by performing safer and less technical lifts such as squats or dead lifts?

But I really want to be more explosive, wont Olympic lifts to that for me?

Not exactly.

We're all born with a certain amount of slow twitch and fast twitch muscle fibres. People with more slow twitch muscle fibres tend to do well in endurance based athletics - think marathon running. Those born with more fast twitch muscle fibres excel in more explosive types of activities - think sprinter.

Olympic lifting is an explosive sport. People with more fast twitch muscle fibres will perform better in this sport than those with more slow twitch fibres. Through training, both types of people can become more explosive. However, the person with more fast twitch muscle fibres will always be, due to genetics, more explosive than the person who was born with more slow twitch muscle fibres.

No amount of training can increase your fast twitch muscle fibres.

Also, as I had already stated above, you can train your explosive power in a safer manner, with similar results that would be achieved with Olympic lifting, by using traditional lifts such as dead lifts, squats, hip thrusters, or kettlebell swings.

What do I mean by all of this?

Basically, what I'm saying is this.

Benefits from Olympic lifting can be produced through safer, less complex, and more general training/exercises. Every form of training has risk involved, but the risk is much higher with Olympic lifts than more basic forms of exercise. There are also no real studies that prove beyond any doubt that Olympic lifting improves over all athleticism. There's nothing that proves it can make you become a better athlete in any sport - other than Olympic lifting. It won't turn you into a super athlete, it's not meant for every body type, and in my opinion - it's not the smartest method of training for the general public. The only real reason anyone needs to be training using Olympic lifting - is if you want to compete in Olympic lifting.

BUT!

I'm not your mom, I can't tell you what to do.

If you enjoy Olympic lifting, go ahead and continue doing it - please be sure to have the best coaching possible.